Breathe
by popcorngoo
Summary: Zuko and Katara may not have started out as friends,but their strange relationship has evolved without them even knowing it. Zuko realizes this as he gazes at Katara and finds himself having difficulty breathing. Zutara. Critique welcomed.


Hi there! Okay, anybody else watching Legend of Korra? I am head over HEELS in love with it. But I'm not sure which pairings I like the best. Korra. Bolin. . Amon. Yes, I said Amon. So, what do I do? I write fanfiction for the only couple I've ever really liked in the avatar universe. ZUTARA! xD I love the tension between Katara and Zuko. Fire and Water makes steam people. How does that NOT make them just the yummiest couple! Alright. Enough ramblings from this old codger. Yes. Being 19 makes me an old codger. Just kidding. I just like to put myself down. It's a masochistic thing...*cough* Anywhoo, I hope whoever actually takes the time to read this that they like it. I mean if you don't that's fine I guess but I'll just die a little inside and write terrible angsty poetry in my diary later. T^T So no biggie. And for those who have read Zutara fanfiction before I know my story is not a very original one, but it has been such a long time since I have written anything that I figured I should just start SOMETHING. So I apologize for my unoriginalness. I hope you can forgive me. ^^

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Zuko was having trouble breathing. And there was only one person to blame for it.

He had been sparring with Katara away from the rest of their group in the forest. The day had been tiring. It started at dawn for one, and he hadn't been sleeping well lately. Nightmares plagued him frequently. He had to endure the long trek through the thick forest all the while listening to Aang's attempts at friendship, Sokka blathering on about nonsense, Toph's snide remarks, and Katara's harsh words. As annoying as Aang, Sokka, and Toph were they were nothing compared to Katara. She didn't trust him. And he didn't blame her. But the fact that she was very vocal about her suspicions of him did not make him warm up to her in the least. Everything he did she questioned. If he went to gather firewood she would assume he was sneaking off to make contact with the fire nation to bring a swarm of them upon their heads. If he offered to help prepare lunch she would say that he would only put poison in it. She wouldn't let him out of her sight just in case he did anything suspicious. And frankly? He was sick of it. If he was in her position he would be wary of himself too. But he did not need the constant reminder of his mistakes. He felt guilty enough without her incessant crowing in his face about it.

He had had quite enough of that. He blew up at her. He yelled at her til he was blue and red in the face. He didn't even remember exactly what he said, but he knew it wasn't very nice. And boy did she react to that. Katara was not one to back down, he could tell that now. She had backhanded him with a slap of water. He was so frustrated with her, that she caught him off guard. He flew back, and looked at her from his position on the ground. She was glaring at him with her fists clenched tightly. Her eyes sparked a torrential fusion of blue and aqua. And he was speechless. Still angry, oh yes, but he couldn't say anything. Words were beyond him right then, and she still hadn't uttered a word at him either.

He slowly stood up, not breaking eye contact, and wiped his now wet hair away from his eyes. His body moved of its own volition into a fighting stance. She in turn gracefully took the stance of a waterbender from her tribe. They waited, watching. Then he smirked and beckoned her by curling his fingers inward. Then, in a flash, she was upon him. Fists. Kicks. Jabs. Water. Splashing everywhere. She was a flurry of movement and water. And he was just as fast. Every attack she executed he deflected, and pushed just as hard back at her. She would dodge effortlessly, and strike back as well. If Zuko made any headway at all, by pushing her between a tree, she would thwart his plans by flipping above his head. She was agile, and quick, bending in moves that he would admire if he didn't loathe her so. As much as she annoyed him he had to admit that Katara was a worthy opponent, and considering she was his polar opposite in elements he would have to say they were pretty evenly matched. They were fueled on by their anger, but as the fight bore on they grew tired. Many blows were exchanged, but each fighter had lost the spark that spurned them on in the beginning. Zuko's feet were swept from under him in a careless moment, and in a desperate attempt to gain leverage he grabbed out for the closest object, which happened to be Katara. He fell down hard, and she landed on top of him with an 'ooph!'

He lay, rigid from the pain and exercise, in the dirt. Katara was still as well, but for a different reason. It had taken her only a second to recover from the fall, and when she did her cheeks warmed considerably. She felt very clearly the hard contours of Zuko's toned body. She was appalled at her thoughts, but there was no denying the lean body beneath her. He was warm. Hot even as he panted and sweated from the rigorous fight. As soon as he realized that she still rested on top of him he opened his eyes and looked at her, questioning. She cleared her throat and swiftly stood up, brushing the dirt from her clothes. She offered Zuko a hand, and he took it hesitantly with a raised eyebrow. She looked away from his curious look and helped him up. "We should be heading back. The others will worry", she said stiffly. He didn't say anything to that, simply nodding in assent. They made their way back to the camp in silence, forgetting the reason that they had both been out there was to forage for food.

Zuko was no fool. He had noticed the curves the waterbender had when she had been pressed against him. The teenage boy in him wanted to react immediately to that. But the Firenation Prince was offended at the idea. However, he had not been prince in a long time…Zuko squelched the thoughts that permeated his mind. He stuffed them into the farthest corners he could find, and didn't think about it any longer.

But the anger was still there. The itch, to just _do _something burned inside him. And sparring with Katara had felt good. Really good if he was honest with himself. He didn't want to spar with Aang. The boy was too sweet tempered for the kind of sparring Zuko enjoyed. Sokka was not a bender, and he would prove no challenge. Toph may be a viable option, but she couldn't care less about Zuko's affairs, choosing to pretend he didn't exist. No, Katara seemed to be the only logical choice.

The two resumed their usual bickering, and snide comments. But the anger was building. The tension rising. Until one night, when all the others were asleep, Katara nudged him none too gently with her foot, as he lay on the ground. "Hey, do…do you want to train with me?" She jumped right to the point. Zuko answered by getting up and following her through the forest without hesitation.

Ever since then they had been secretly fighting with each other at night, when all the others were sleeping. They acted normally in front of them during the day, but at night Zuko could tell there was a difference. In a way, they could really be themselves when they fought, without words. Their actions spoke enough for them.

And their relationship seemed to have shifted. It hadn't been a conscious thing. Before he knew it, he had started to actually _care_ about the annoying girl. He found himself checking her over after their battles to make sure she wasn't too beat up. He still fought with everything he had, but he wasn't constantly dwelling on the rage swelling within him. In fact, his temper seemed to have receded the more they trained. No, he found himself think of _other _things.

His breath hitched.

Why was it so hard to breathe? The day had been incredibly hot. It was summer, but even still the temperature was ridiculous. Sweat trickled down the side of his face as he stared at his opponent. In light of the heat wave Katara had shed a few articles of clothing in order to make things more bearable as she fought. She still wore her undergarments and wrappings, but little else. The gleam of her mother's necklace was a bright azure against the bronze of her skin. Zuko gulped. He found that he rather liked the color of her skin. It was so warm looking, like a fresh baked cookie. Soft and delicious. He angrily stamped down on that trail of thought.

He turned from her and took off his shirt and shoes. He decided to keep his pants on, even if he would be cooler without them. He didn't want to be _too_ vulnerable in front of Katara. Sweat glistened against his pale skin, making it shine with slickness. Katara tried not to stare, and failed miserably. She hadn't thought much about it when she had been the one to shed clothes because she was so dreadfully _hot_, but now she wasn't sure if it was such a good idea. Zuko stretched and rolled around his shoulders in preparation. Katara's eyes roved over the muscles as they moved and flexed like a cat would watch a mouse. He bent and pulled at a knee, and Katara found that she could not look at him any longer or else she would be rooted to the spot forever. She did an about face and began her stretches as well.

Zuko chanced a glance over his shoulder when he was about done with his routine, and nearly swore aloud. Katara was bent forward with her hands touching her toes. Her bottom was presented completely to him, upturned with her legs spread wide apart. Zuko's heart beat increased substantially. She didn't even realize what she was doing to him. The curve of her spine, her shapely legs, the position her body presented was so enticing he wanted to forget all the voices in his head that told him he shouldn't _want._ Oh but he did. She repeated a few more leg stretches, and brought her hands above her head and arched her back, tensing the muscles, and let out a tiny mewl of release. Zuko's eyes just about bugged out of his head. The satisfied grunt let out when muscles were being stretched was a sound he had heard many times, but from Katara it sounded more like…..well, something infinitesimally more pleasurable. Zuko steeled himself for this sparring match. He had a feeling that his head was not going to be in the right place to put up much of a fight.

"You ready?" Katara called. He took a deep breath to calm his raging nerves, and turned around, ready for battle. Katara seemed to be in the same mindset, for she was already positioned. As custom, they leveled a determined glare at each other. Sometimes it felt as if they were communicating with just one look.

This time it was Katara to be the one to smirk and egg him on with her own crook of the fingers. Zuko smirked back as well. He charged forward. He sent a fiery punch at where Katara stood, but she dodged in the nick of time and sent back a water-filled kick to his head. He jumped to the side and avoided the attack. The dance began. They had been sparring for at least a few weeks and knew each other's moves like the back of their hands. The could easily predict when the other would strike. A few times Zuko would delay his reaction time simply to let more of Katara's water attacks catch his heated body. The cool water felt so good against his skin, and it was so _hot. _Katara was having a hard time concentrating. They both moved with grace and agility, but she noticed the effect of her water upon Zuko's pale skin.

'He glistens like a diamond', she thought absently to herself as she watched his toned abs crunch together as he performed a complicated twist to get away from her stream of water. Her gaze was so fixated on his body, that she hadn't been paying attention when he sent a fireblast straight at her.

"Katara!"

She blinked and instinctively dropped to the ground as the blast flew past her head. Her eyes followed it until it disappeared. Zuko offered her a hand up and she took it gratefully. Standing up, she wiped the sweat off her brow and said, "Thanks. Guess I wasn't paying attention."

Zuko smirked at her and reached out. He tucked an errant strand of chestnut hair behind her ear and said, "Don't worry about it. You weren't the only one."

She stared at him. Her cheeks were red, but she could blame that on the heat. The place on her ear where his fingers accidentally brushed her skin tingled pleasantly though, and she couldn't blame that on the heat.

"Maybe it's the heat", she said fanning herself, but watching his reaction very closely.

A hidden look passed face; it was just a strange flicker in his eyes. But it had been there and gone.

"Yeah", he said. "Maybe….I think it's affecting my breathing."

They both looked at each other for a while. There they stood. In the middle of the forest at night. Enemies. Comrades. Water. Fire. Female. Male.

"Me too".

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There it is! That was my first try at writing Zutara, or anything from the Avatar-verse. I hope it was okay. If the characters are OOC I would appreciate it if you commented and let me know. And also if you have any comments to help better me as a writer those are welcome as well. Be gentle with me please. (or not. rawr) Seriously, comments are amazing. I'm not just writing for my health here people. If anything it's not healthy to sit in a dark room at 3 in the morning staring into a computer screen for hours. (took me two hours to write this. booyah) Sorry if it's not that long. I get tired easily, so short fanfics are the best I can do. :p PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COMMENTAH!


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